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All of these albums can be purchased separately, but the box case is attractive and makes an excellent addition to the CD shelf.I picked mine up on a whim at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and have not been disappointed.This product page describes Monster Superdiscs that contain digital copies of the music with supposedly superior sound. After reading the other reviews for this box-set I decided to jot down my own opinions of this product and hopefully clear the air.This collectors set is a tin box with three separate albums: * A Charlie Brown Christmas - Soundtrack to the CBS Special * Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits - A myriad collection of Vince Guaraldi Trio from the various TV specials including "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", "A Charlie Brown Christmas", "You're Not Elected Charlie Brown" and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" * 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas - A compilation of remixes performed by the likes of David Benoit, Vanessa Williams, Brian McKnight and Dave KozA Charlie Brown Christmas is a staple of Christmas in our house. The other CDs are fun and whimsical and hardly negate from the value of the package. This collection does NOT contain any Monster Superdiscs, although those can be found elsewhere.Note: This version of A Charlie Brown Christmas is the Concord 2006 remaster that garnered criticism a few years back due to poor editing. Concord has since cleaned up the reverb and equalization; and it does sound just like you remember.
This HD CD which really works fine. Even the MP3's and AAC's are high quality files.
MS. ASIDE FROM SOME IMPRESSIVE FILM AUDIO TRACKS, I HAVE NEVER HEARD A DISC SO SKILLFULLY UTILIZING THE SURROUND TECHNOLOGY. KHAN ARE SADLY PATHETIC AND COULD BE READILY SHAMED BY ANY OF THE KIDS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR. WILLIAMS AND MS. I FIND AGREEMENT WITH SOME OF THE COMMENTS OF THE EARLIER REVIEWERS IN THAT A RE-DO OF THE CLASSIC PEANUTS SCORE (WHICH WAS FANTASTIC AND ALSO AVAILABLE AS A MONSTER DISC) WAS NOT ONE OF RECORDED MUSICS GREATEST NEEDS. AT LEAST THERE THEY HAVE GREAT SOUNDS TO EVOLVE INTO GREAT SONICS. THIS IS WHAT 5.1 SURROUND IS ALL ABOUT. BUT THE SOUND,THE FANTASTIC SOUND.
I EAGERLY AWAIT WHATEVER THE MONSTERS PUT THEIR HANDS TO NEXT. AS I WAS PLAYING THE DISC SOMEWHAT LOUDLY TO APPRECIATE THE SPECTACULAR SURROUND IMAGERY, HER VOCAL TORTURES DROVE MY CAT TO SEEK SOLACE AND REFUGE UNDER THE SOFA. ALSO, THE VOCALS BY MS. THE MONSTER ENGINEERS HAVE CREATED A SONIC MASTERPIECE EQUAL TO TWO OF MY FAVORITE 5.1 RECORDINGS: MIKE OLDFIELD'S TUBULAR BELLS UPDATE AND A JEAN MICHEL JARRE IMPORT TITLED AERO. BRAXTON'S EFFORT COULD EASILY BE THE MOST HIDEOUS NOISE I HAVE EVER HEARD. SHE MAY STILL BE THERE. I ORDERED THE RAY CHARLES MONSTER DISC TODAY. WITH THIS CHARLIE BROWN DISC, THE WRAPPING SOUND SURROUNDS SOME MUNDANE SOUNDS.
I mean, come on, surround sound. It immediately takes me back to that one night of the year when CBS would air the special. .and I haven't even bought this CD. Horendous indeed. Some things in life should simply be off limits.In other words.I SECOND THE MOTION. How cool is that. But I can tell you this: for me, part of the beauty of the original recording is the flat out INNONCENCE and glorious LO-FI of the mixes.
Because I don't want to know that anyone else had their Christmas almost ruined over another modern-day artist trying to cash in on a true genius' talents, just like the previous reviewer so correctly stated. I got the email today from Amazon advertising it, and my first reaction (because the original CD soundtrack from Guaraldi is the GREATEST CHRISTMAS ALBUM OF ALL TIME) was that I'd give it a try. I lived for that evening, as did many of you.Why am I taking the time to write a review for something I haven't even heard. Little did I know, before reading the previous review, that it was a whole new album/arrangement of all the songs. Now, if they had simply taken the original tracks and put them in surround, maybe improved the mix.who knows. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Benoit, but really.compose your own Christmas songs and leave the classics alone, David. LONG LIVE THE ORIGINAL RECORDING.(oh, and God bless us.every one.).
Buy the original Charlie Brown Christmas CD and save yourself the aggravation. I could go on and on but there isn't a bright spot in this entire disaster of a CD.
Today, Nov 30, I got out my Christmas CD's to start getting in the holiday mood. This CD is horrendous.
The third, "Linus and Lucy" is a depressingly boring arrangement with repetitive saxophone riffs, an annoying percussion track and a lobotomized version of Vince Guaraldi's original harmonies. This CD is so bad that it ruined my entire mood - I'll be lucky if I recover by Christmas.The first track, "Christmas is Coming" butchers a great song with clumsy unwelcome horn arrangements.
The second, "Just Like Me" is a breathy, flat, overwrought waste of 4 minutes. oh, except "Fur Elise" which is a note for note rendition of the original.This CD is an affront to the musical genius of Vince Guaraldi and I'm sick and tired of lesser artists cashing in by rehashing his great music - no one has done it better, in fact they aren't even close.
Have a happy holiday, I just hope I recover in time to salvage some of mine.
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